Some Things Change
by Zie Ayton
Summary: Four years after the end of Battle City, Mokuba is suffering the consequences of his brother's lifestyle. Seto transfers his brother to a private school to protect him, but things start going downhill when Mokuba meets Noelle...
1. Money Isn't Going to Fix Everything

Zie: Happy New Year, everyone! I'm ringing in 2009 with another fic, this one far better planned than the others. With this story, I'd like to introduce someone to you...my yami, Cerah. She'll be helping me from now on, so she may as well introduce herself a bit.

Cerah: Hell no. I'm an orphan and nineteen years old, a little older than my hikari. I guess it's so I can guide her through her younger years in life. Damn. That was an introduction, wasn't it? Anyway, as I'm helping out, I'll say this first--Kazuki Takahashi owns _Yu-Gi-Oh!_, not Zie. She does own this story, though, so whatever she wants to happen happens and you can deal with it or not read. Got it?

Zie: Cerah! Don't scare them off!

Cerah: Just sayin'.

* * *

**Chapter One**

_**Money Isn't Going to Fix Everything**_

_Four years have passed since Battle City. It's hard to say if they passed quickly or slowly. A little of both, I guess. A lot's changed since then, but some things haven't. Those never will. Take my big brother for instance: he's still out to get Yugi. I don't think he'll ever get over it. I really wish he would, though. It can't be good for him, harboring that kind of bitterness. Sometimes it makes me want to get Yugi, too, just to make Seto happy...er. I don't think he'll ever truly be happy, but he could at least be nicer. I think he's fired five guys within the past month. Nobody knows why. I guess--_

"Mr. Kaiba, it's time for school. Your brother will be upset if you're late again. Hurry up!"

_More later._

I placed the journal I'd gotten yesterday--I'd told Seto I wanted to write, which was halfway true--under my mattress. Hopefully nobody could find it there. I quickly grabbed up my jacket and backpack before hurrying into the elevator, where Winan--a new employee, the replacement for my old, uh, _bodyguard_, that's how I'll put it--stood, impatiently tapping his foot. He'd barely been with us for a week, but I could tell he'd be okay once he got over his irrational fear of my brother. The elevator reached the ground floor and Winan all but dragged me out to the limousine. "_Why?_ Why can't I just ride the bus?"

"Your brother's orders, Mr. Kaiba."

"Just call me Mokuba, Winan. Really, Seto may want to be called 'Mr. Kaiba', but I don't."

"Uh, ri-right Mr.--"

"_Just_ Mokuba."

"I-if you wish, M-Mokuba." I guess the guy was still scared of me. Probably thought I'd sic Seto on him if he made the slightest hint of a wrong move. He was going to take longer to loosen up than some of the others. Winan opened the door of the limousine and climbed in after me. It was a silent ride to school, and I could have sworn that Winan was fidgeting the entire time.

Even as the chauffeur was coming to a stop, I was opening the door on my side in order to get out before I attracted too much attention. Not like everyone didn't know I was the younger Kaiba, filthy rich. But the less contempt I showed, the better. With a single swift motion from me, the limousine sped off, leaving me to enter Domino High School with my head down so as not to draw notice--I had recently grown several inches, and it was apparent I was going to be as tall as my brother someday. Just my luck. My newfound height--though not _too_ too much, only five five as of that point--made it much harder to escape the curious stares of my classmates. I made my way toward my locker through the teeming hallways. I think the population of the high school had grown since Seto graduated, because he never complained about having troubles getting around. Then again, it wasn't unlikely that _his_ classmates cleared the way for him. He'd never had any problem with letting people know he was rich, knew it, and would exploit his advantage to the fullest. I really wished he hadn't. _My_ seniors were _his_ freshman; they enjoyed taking revenge on my brother by torturing me. Though that had been quashed for the most part after Seto had seen me come home with a black eye, there were still some brave enough to pick on me every now and then. Today was one of those now-and-thens. As I began to twist the dial on my locker, I got shoved up against it. My struggling was to no avail: it only encouraged laughter from my attacker.

"Lookie here, 'Mr. Kaiba' thinks he can break free! Let's see if you can get out of this." A hand grabbed the back of my head and pulled it back far enough for me to see the guy's face. It wasn't a senior at all. This guy was only a sophomore, whose name eluded my memory.

"What the hell is your problem?!" I yelled. "You don't even know my brother!"

The guy growled. "I don't need to. Kaiba fired my dad. I think you're pretty familiar with him. Greg Hans?"

_Damn._ Greg had been my bodyguard up until last month. Seto had fired him because I was late one too many times and had to serve detention. Or at least that was the public reason. Seto had never liked Greg much to begin with. Everyone at Kaiba Corp. figured he had been searching for an excuse to get rid of him, and had finally found one.

"Your being a dumb freshman got him fired! We can't get any money from anywhere! Dad can't find a job! Damned Kaiba!" The guy--Jeffrey, I now recalled--made to bash my head against my locker, but never finished. Since he still had a pretty good grip on the back of my head, he and I were both pulled back by the gym teacher, who pulled Jeffrey off me and proceeded to drag him away by the arm toward the office.

I was left sitting in the middle of the hall, unable to move due to shock. The close call had shaken me enough that I sat there for several minutes, trying to regain myself. Eventually, I was able to stand. I hurried to get my stuff together for my first class and took off. I had barely dropped into my seat when the bell rang.

---

The day did not go well. Word of that morning traveled fast, and by the end of first class, whispers and glances followed me wherever I went. I was almost glad to be crawling into the limousine that pulled up in front of the school, almost not caring that people stared at what I got around in. I thought that, as I rode home, the worst of my day was over, and I could go up to my room and do whatever. Man, was I ever wrong. That was easy to see as soon as we got close enough to the building to see it.

There was Seto, waiting. It was never a good sign for my brother to be out of his office during business hours. Something was up, and I had a fairly good idea of what that was. "Mokuba, I need to talk to you in my office."

_They called him_, I thought resentfully. Why couldn't they ever leave Seto out of it? He had enough to worry about without having to deal with my bullying situation. I followed him with a frown, not even bothering to try and talk him out of it. If he 'd been waiting for me, he wanted to talk and that was that. In his office, I sat in the chair he motioned to with a sigh. "What is it?" I asked as he sat down behind his desk.

"I think you know, Mokuba. I received a call from the school this morning. I had to reschedule a meeting for it. The principal told me that the gym teacher dragged a boy into his office before first class. The boy had been caught just before he hit your head against your locker. His name was Jeffrey _Hans_. I inquired about the discipline he would receive, but they had yet to inform _Greg_. You wouldn't happen to know _why_ Jeffrey attacked you?"

"I'm not hurt, Seto."

"_That's not the point!_" he yelled, slamming his hands on the desk and half-rising from his chair. My brother lowered himself and continued in a lower--but no less agitated--voice. "You _could_ have been seriously injured. Mokuba, you are fifteen years old and this simply _cannot_ continue."

"You're talking like I've been getting into fights, Seto! It's not like I've done anything to encourage them!"

His voice rose again. "Have you ever done anything to _dis_courage them?"

"Do you want me to get myself _suspended?!_" I yelled right back.

"You wouldn't! It's self-defense!"

"Try convincing the school board of that!"

"That wouldn't be a problem!"

I completely snapped and began screaming at the top of my lungs. "_MONEY ISN'T GOING TO FIX EVERYTHING!!! SO FAR IT'S ONLY MADE THINGS WORSE!!! KEEP OUT OF MY LIFE!!!_" With that I ran out of his office, trying desperately to hold back tears of fury.

Seto didn't respond until I was in the elevator, waiting for the doors to close; I think that was how long it took him to realize I'd just up and run without his consent. "Mokuba, get back here!" he shouted. I saw him dash out of his office through the elevator doors just before I was shuttled downward toward my room.

* * *

Cerah: As you can see, this is from Mokuba Kaiba's point of view, four years after Battle City, and he's fifteen.

Zie: Just to note, I'm crossing dub names with Japanese ages. I'm also taking up from where _Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie_ ended. Well, years-wise. It's been one year since that happened. And yes, this chapter was kinda short. Deal with it.

Cerah: Now review. If you liked it and want to see more, tell your friends and/or readers to R&R as well.

Zie: I won't update until I have at least five reviews. And the next chapter is nearly halfway done, so if I get the reviews it shouldn't take more than three days to get chapter two up.

Zie&Cerah: SO REVIEW!

Cerah: Flamers can go to hell and burn in the flames they've sent.

Zie: Flame and you will end up as a badly-treated OC.

Zie&Cerah: SO DON'T FLAME!


	2. You Have Been Transferred Out of DHS

Zie: Thanks for the reviews everyone! I really appreciate them!

Cerah: That's nice and all, but after this, we'll only talk _after_ the action. Here's chapter two.

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**Chapter Two**

_**You Have Been Transferred Out of Domino High School**_

_Here's more: I nearly got my skull _crushed_ because of Seto! My old bodyguard's son attacked me at my locker. The gym teacher got him at the last second, but I don't think that's the last I'm going to be seeing of Jeffrey. But more on my brother, whose reliance on money and power is the root of all the torment. I want--even for just one day--to know what life would be like if I wasn't associated with Seto. Maybe I'd be treated like everyone else. Not that that seems so appealing at times. I_

I jumped when I saw the knob of my door turn out of the corner of my eye. Panicked, I threw the journal under my bed, grabbed a random book from my shelf, and landed in a chair just before the door opened.

There stood Seto, and obviously forced calmness surrounding him. For a long time standing was all he did, his blank expression never wavering, not even when I glared. Finally, his eyes flashed and he spoke. "Mokuba, I think our conversation had a bad start."

I jumped straight in at his pause. "Do you really?" I asked as darkly as I could manage.

My brother's face remained totally emotionless as he replied with as simple, "Yes." He drew in a long breath. "Since you're obviously not going to listen to my reasoning first, I'll get straight to the point."

Surprised, and unintelligible, "Nuh?' escaped my lips. "You mean you didn't take me into your office to talk about--"

He cut me off. "Did you really think I would waste precious time waiting for you just to discuss one insignificant bully? I thought you knew me better than that, Mokuba."

"Why...? What...? Then..." I couldn't wrap my mouth--or brain, for that matter--around the right words to communicate my thoughts to Seto, who waited with uncharacteristic patience for me to pull my head together. I finally did. "Then why _were_ you waiting for me? What is so important?"

He took another deep breath before answering. "After the principal hung up, I called the private school and transferred you."

I almost could have sworn that I anime-fell at Seto's statement. If my mind had been a mess before, before _paled_ in comparison to the jumbled chaos it was now. "Y-y-y...y-y-you..." If Seto was talking about the same school I was thinking of, then he had enrolled me in Kotonashi Kinko, established by its namesake to educate only the most brilliant of young minds. It's not like I believed I was stupid, but I was almost certain that more than a few strings had been pulled that morning. I growled before beginning to shout. "How much did it take to bribe them to let me in?"

"Surprisingly enough," my brother replied calmly with a lacing of sarcasm, "they were eager to have you at no cost--excluding standard tuition." Seeing my look of disbelief, he continued. "I didn't believe them either. However, as things are, you have been transferred out of Domino High School and are not expected at Kotonashi until next Monday. Until then, I'm going to allow you some freedom. You can go wherever you want--within reason--as long as you stay with Winan. He will report straight to me if you try to run off. So don't."

"Have I ever even _hinted_ that I would want to? I've had plenty of chances that I never took."

"I'm not taking any risks."

"You're overbearing!"

Apparently not wanting to get into another argument, he turned his back on me and started toward my door before speaking. "It's for your own good." The door closed behind him, only to reopen a few moments later. "By the way, Mokuba," my brother said, so close to giving me a wry smile, "your book's upside-down."

I looked down to the page I was opened to; he was right. When I looked back up, he was gone. _Damn._ Seto knew I didn't want him to know what I had been doing. Having a genius for a brother could be more than inconvenient. Sometimes it was just a downright pain in the ass. That was one of those times.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. In exactly one week, I would be starting at Kotonashi, one of the most prestigious schools in the country.

---

I didn't really take much advantage of my freedom. I mostly spent the time catching up on some much-needed sleep. The only time I really left the building was on Saturday. I crawled out of bed at about noon to get dressed and brush out my hair, which only came down to my shoulders now. Seto had forced me to cut it off before starting high school. My hair, according to him, made me look like a girl, and he didn't want people to think he had a cross-dressing sister. Bastard. I nearly ran into Winan when I walked out my door.

He jumped. "Um, M-Mokuba. Mr. Kaiba has instructed me to take you to Kotonashi to get a uniform. He wants us there and back by two o'clock."

"No time to waste then, ne?" I said as I tried to lead the way to the elevator.

Winan overtook me, so I was forced to follow him, as almost always. My bodyguard opened the limousine door and got in after me. He seemed as nervous as he had been Monday.

I decided not to make any attempt at conversation; he was clearly not in a talking mood. Not knowing what else to do, I stared out the window. I didn't know how far Kotonashi was from Kaiba Corp., but it couldn't be too far if I wasn't boarding. Or at least I hoped I wasn't. It didn't sound like my brother to allow me to stay somewhere alone, but I suppose he would permit it if he thought the school was safe enough.

The place didn't turn out to be very far away at all: barely ten minutes had passed before the car stopped and Winan ushered me out. Kotonashi Kinko was not a large school, but that didn't make it any less impressive. The red brick driveway that led up to the jet-black building was lined with beautiful, well cared-for cherry trees. Above the sliding glass doors, engraved and painted red, were the words _Kotonashi Kinko Private High School_. Inside was even more striking: the white-tiled floor was in sharp contrast to the black walls and a large silver chandelier lit the entire lobby. The place resembled a hotel more than it did a school, and that set me on edge. I had always associated schools that were this nice with some sort of torture chamber or secret experimental testing lab. Maybe I'd just played one too many video games, but I didn't trust the place at all. Silent but alert, I followed Winan to the desk where a woman sat reading a magazine. _Professional._

Almost as if she'd heard my thoughts, the lady put the magazine away and stood. "What do you two young men need?"

Winan answered. "I am here with Mokuba Kaiba to get a uniform. His older brother enrolled him on--"

"Oh, yes, of course," the woman--I saw that her name tag said Melissa--said hurriedly. She took us to a door and opened it before going back to her desk and pulling her magazine back out.

Through the door was a long hall with several doors on either side. At the end was a door with a sign identifying it as the registrar's office. After waiting several moments for Winan to unfreeze, I pushed past him and walked down toward it. It was very quiet. I guess I should have expected it--after all, it _was_ a Saturday. How many people could be in a school on _Saturday_? It still bothered me. I was used to hearing everything from noisy machines to noisy people who never shut up, and the silence just didn't fit into those familiar sounds. The end of the hall finally arrived and I reached out to open the door in front of me.

To my surprise, it was pulled back from the inside to reveal a short, plump woman wearing a pleasant expression. "Hello, Mr. Kaiba, come in. Is this young man going to enter as well?"

Winan shook his head when I motioned for him. "Orders from your brother."

"Oh." I stepped into the room and watched as the door was shut in front of my bodyguard.

The woman turned to me and smiled. "You may call me Ms. Yimori, Mr. Kaiba. You are here to pick up your school uniform, correct?"

I nodded. The lady kinda creeped me out, just like everything else had so far. "Yeah, and my brother wants me home by two, so--"

"Oh, yes, of course, I quite understand. Then I suppose we should hurry this along. I have it right..." Ms. Yimori went over to a closet and opened it to reveal several identical--save their sizes--uniforms. "...here," she said as she pulled out what appeared to be the smallest and handed it to me.

The uniform was made up of two pieces. The first was a long-sleeved shirt with a neck that faintly resembled that of a Chinese woman's dress. It was mostly red, but had two distinct black pieces: one was the right sleeve from the bottom of the cut in the turtleneck to the armpit, the other was a large stripe running across the middle. The other piece was a simple pair of black slacks. "What about shoes?"

"I have a few pairs, but you'll have to try them on. What size of shoe do you normally wear?"

I hated that question. "A six," I replied.

Ms. Yimori's eyes widened. "Pardon? Did I hear you correctly? A _six_?"

I sighed in annoyance. "Yes, ma'am."

She looked through the closet for several minutes before standing and walking over to another one. This one was filled with pretty much the same thing, except the bottom halves of the uniforms were _skirts_. I guess that she saw my expression when she finally pulled out a pair of shoes, because she quickly dove into an explanation. "The shoes are the same, it's just that I don't have any boys' pairs that small. These should fit, though."

Apprehensively, I examined the shoes--a women's seven. They appeared to be nothing more than a pair of sneakers the same shade of red as the shirt, not any different from what I'd seen of the boys', so I reluctantly swapped my own shoes for them; they fit fine. With a nod from Ms. Yimori, I took them off and slipped my own back on. "This it?"

The woman nodded. "Yes it is, Mr. Kaiba. Kotonashi looks forward to seeing you on Monday. Have an excellent weekend."

I returned the well-wishes quickly before hurrying back out to the hall, where Winan was waiting.

Without speaking, he pushed back from against the wall and led the way back to the limousine.

* * *

Zie: Yea! Chapter two! I guess I forgot to metion this, though it should be fairly obvious, but Winan belongs to me, along with Jeffrey, Ms. Yimori, and any other OC I decide to put in here. Kotonashi is mine as well--or at least it is to the best of my knowledge. Also, before anyone else asks what's up with Mokuba, I'll answer--horomones. He's fifteen now, for Ra's sake, not eleven. He won't be the same as he was on the show.

Cerah: What she can't seem to get to saying is that we hope you enjoyed the chapter and you should review immediately. Don't hesitate to tell others who might enjoy it to R&R as well.

Zie: I've also decided that five reviews--at least as of yet--is bit of a harsh wait for my more devoted readers. I'll try to update as quickly as possible. But, like Cerah said, spread the word!


	3. This Is Mokuba Kaiba

**Chapter Three**

_**This Is Mokuba Kaiba**_

_I'm still worried about everything I noticed Saturday. It still makes me think that I've been transferred to an experimental testing lab. The last thing I want is to be brainwashed. Oh, wow. Video games. I wonder if_

"Mokuba!"

_For the love of...fine._

I shoved the journal under my mattress and hurried out my door with the new book bag Seto had given me the night before. For once in my life, I cared about whether or not I was late to school. It was Monday, the first day I was expected at Kotonashi, and I didn't want to leave a bad impression so early. As always, I followed Winan through the building and to the limousine.

He seemed calmer than he had been, though that could easily have been due to actually being on time for once. He didn't fidget throughout the entire ride, which I was glad to see. Winan finally seemed to be loosening up.

At the school, I noticed that there were several other cars just like the one I was in. That comforted me some--no more stares because I had a chauffeur. I climbed out of the limousine after Winan. "What did Seto tell you to do for today?" I asked.

"Mr. Kaiba instructed me to accompany you to and from the school. You'll be on your own." He sat back in the car. Just before he shut the door, Winan said, "He also asked me to wish you luck for him. He'd wanted to be here this morning, but he had an important meeting he had to attend. So, luck, Mokuba." With that, he and the car were gone.

I turned toward the building just in time to see a small group of students enter. I quickened my pace so I could follow them; I had absolutely no idea where I was supposed to be going, but one of them had to know where I could find out. It wasn't until they had gotten halfway across the lobby that I caught up to them. "Um, excuse me, but could one of you please tell me where I can figure out my schedule and...well, I'm not quite sure what else."

A girl responded. "Sure, just come with us. I'll take you to Ms. Yimori. She should be in the commons."

Unsure, I fell into step with the group.

"My name is Becca Stanley," the girl said after a few moments. "You must be new. Who are you?"

I hesitated, but figured my presence wouldn't be secret for too long anyway. "Mokuba Kaiba."

"So the rumors _were_ true," Becca said, more to herself than anyone. Fascinatingly enough, she showed little interest in my identity. "You'll like it here, Mokuba. You were going to the regular high school before, weren't you?" She continued the small talk until we got to what I assumed was their cafeteria. At that point she scoped the room. "There," Becca said, barely giving me any warning before jerking me through the few small clusters of people. She came to a stop right in front of the registrar. "Good morning, Ms. Yimori. Mokuba here needs his schedule."

"Oh yes, of course! I should have given it to you Saturday. Stay right here while I go print it out." The woman hurried off in the direction of her office.

"I'm going back to my friends now. Ms. Yimori will find you a student guide. There should be at least one person with a schedule exactly like yours. Well, good luck on your first day!" That said, Becca turned and walked off.

I think I was left standing there alone for ten minutes. During that time, not one person turned to stare at me and I was not approached.

After what seemed like forever, Ms. Yimori _finally_ returned, a sheet of paper in one hand, the shoulder of a tall blonde boy in the other. "Mokuba, this is Ethan Crow. He's in all your classes, so he'll show you around. Here is your schedule as well, though with Ethan, it's unlikely you'll ever need it. He hasn't missed a single day of school. Now go on! Don't want you late on your first day, do we?"

It wasn't until then that I noticed everyone else had cleared out.

"So, you're Mokuba Kaiba, huh? It's really cool to have you at Kotonashi! We're going to World Lit first, but the teacher is really chill, so we can get away with being a little late. Lemme--"

"No, let's just get to class. Please."

Ethan led me down a _really_ long hall. The end was complete surprise; it looked like a very ordinary--extremely clean, but ordinary nonetheless--school. He ushered me through the first door on the left into a room of about fifteen people--including the teacher.

I was starting to realize just how small Kotonashi was. Back at Domino High School, my smallest class had had thirty-five people. "Ethan," I asked in a low voice, "are all the classes this small?"

He grinned. "Kotonashi prides itself in having small classes. But no, this class is actually a little big. The average is only about ten. Now c'mon, you have to meet Baynford, the teacher. Mr. Baynford!" Like Becca had, Ethan dragged me toward a tall man talking with another student in the back of the room; the man turned at the sound of what I presumed to be his name. "This is Mokuba Kaiba, the guy who transferred from Domino."

"Oh yes, of course." Baynford held out a hand, which I shook. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mokuba. I'm glad to have you in my World Literature class. Ethan, please take your seat while I get Mokuba caught up on what we've gone over so far this semester."

"Yes, sir!" The boy seemed more than eager to comply, and earned a chuckle from the teacher.

"Ethan's your student guide?" He laughed again at my nod. "He's a good kid, but extremely hyper. Your classes ought to be interesting with him. But on the note of class, you came in at a good time. We're just getting ready to start 1984, so you won't have to catch up to us. However, I would suggest you get a copy of the notes we've taken so far from Ethan--if you can understand them. If not, ask someone else for them. You'll need to be sure you know everything for the final. I checked books out to everyone else last class, so let me get you one." Baynford reached behind him and handed me a maroon book book with gold letters across the top of the cover that identified the title. "That is book number...forty-one. All right, pick a seat and I'll start class."

I looked around and found a seat next to Ethan; I figured it would be best I stuck with him as closely as possible for the first week or so.

He leaned across the aisle to whisper something, but was cut off before he could stop.

"Mr. Crow, please do not distract Mr. Kaiba." Once he was certain Ethan would not do it again, he continued the lecture he'd begun. "I will warn you that this book does consist of some very explicit content, but as I trust in your maturity, we are going to study it anyway. Prove me wrong, and I will choose a much less interesting book. Any comments? Not," he quickly said, "you, Ethan. No one else? All right then, let's start by introducing the book. Does anyone know what it's about?"

I had a pretty good idea--Seto had mentioned it once or twice--but didn't want to make a name for myself just yet, so I left my hand down.

"Mokuba? You look like you know something. Share it with the class."

"I--" I really didn't want to answer, but Baynford stared expectantly, so I spoke. "1984 is about Ingsoc, or English Socialism. It's the government, and it's brainwashing people by using television, various clubs and organizations, and shrinking the dictionary every year. The main character works for a newspaper, where he edits old ones to show only what Ingsoc wants them to show. It's where using _big brother_ in reference to the government comes from." Though I remembered a lot more from Seto, I figured that was enough to get the man off my back.

"Very good! Have you read it?"

I shook my head. "No, but my brother has. He talks about it some."

"Well, I'm very glad you listened. It leaves me a lot less explaining to do. The main point..." His speech was pretty long and boring. I nearly fell asleep listening. I'd heard it all from my brother, so there was nothing I really needed to pay attention to. "...and we'll begin reading next time we're in here."

That was about when I started listening again. "What's he mean by the next time we're in here?" I asked Ethan.

"Classes are an hour long, so we have two sets of classes--red days and black days. There are four classes each day, plus lunch. We only have three minutes between classes, but they're all close together and teachers are pretty lenient when it comes to needing to get a drink or use the bathroom. Get your stuff together, Mokuba. We're going to gym next, and it's the farthest classroom to the right. Which is really far."

I did as he said, and within fifteen seconds, the bell rang and he started off at a brisk pace, forcing me to follow at an even quicker pace than his own--he looked about five nine, and his legs made up what seemed to be half of his height. We arrived in front of a large set of double doors in just under two minutes. Ethan opened the door and I walked through it into the gym. It was significantly smaller than the one at Domino. _Odd. I figured all gyms would have to be roughly the same size._

Ethan must have seen my expression. "Yeah, I know, it's not much, but since we're an academic school, I guess the board doesn't think we need anything major. Well, you'll need a set of gym clothes. You can borrow my old ones."

"Neh? Um, that's nice and all--and slightly weird--but I don't think that'll work too well."

It took him a second to comprehend what I meant. "Wha...oh! No, really, it'll be fine. Our torsos are about the same length, and I only just grew recently, so my shorts should be about the right length. C'mon!" He grabbed my arm--yet again--and pulled me with him toward what I guessed was the dressing room.

"Really, Ethan, like I told you, nice and all, but a little weird," I said as I tried to pry him off me. I didn't succeed until we'd already reached his locker.

"Here," he said, handing me the clothes. "They're clean, I promise. Get these on, then I'll introduce you to Coach.

Reluctantly, I complied. He'd been right about the shorts, they came down to my knees, just like they were supposed to, and the shirt wasn't too bad either. I figured one day wearing his clothes wouldn't do any harm, so I met up with him once I had changed.

"The clothes work great! Okay, now let's talk to Coach." Ethan led me to a short, muscular man with a whistle around his neck. "Coach, this is Mokuba Kaiba, the transfer student. Mokuba, this is Coach Marnell." That was about the extent of introductions. I followed Ethan to a riser and sat beside him. I think he tried to get me to talk to some other guys, but I didn't put much thought behind it.

Everyone snapped to attention when Coach started talking. "We're taking a break from badminton today! As soon as the girls get in here we'll choose a game."

That didn't take long--no more than three minutes passed before about ten girls walked out from a different dressing room. I recognized Becca and one of her friends. Leading them was a woman who looked to be about my height. She spoke in the same loud voice as Coach. "Have you all chosen what you'll be playing? Or were you actually gentlemanly enough to wait and ask our opinion this time?"

"We waited this time, _love_. Let's get in a vote!"

Slightly confused, I asked Ethan who she was.

"Coach Love," he replied, which answered a lot. "She's Coach's little sister." That answered even more. "Quick, raise your hand!"

"Huh?"

"Target Tag! It's really fun, trust me."

Though not entirely sure what I was getting into, I followed his lead.

"Unanimous for Target Tag. Love and I will be the Callers. Get into position."

I simply did as it looked like I was supposed to, so I got up and went to stand beside Ethan on the gym floor. "What are the rules?"

"Just follow Coach and Love's directions. If you don't, then you're out. That's about all there is to the game. Now hush, they're picking the first Tagger."

"All right, then...Becca will be the first Tagger!" Love called out before turning to her brother and whispering something. "The first Target will be...Ethan!" More whispering. "And you're movement will be...Michael Jackson's moonwalk! Begin!"

The resulting chorus of squeaking tennis shoes was almost too much. There couldn't have been a much worse choice for moving on a wood floor with rubber-soled shoes. I tuned it out as best I could and started moving. During the game, Coach and Love changed all three variables several times at random intervals. I'm guessing they cut me some slack since it was my first time playing, because people started getting called out for not responding immediately. That was apparently how you got out, not by getting tagged. By the end of the hour, I was thoroughly creeped out by how good some of the older ones had bee. While we were on our way to lunch, I considered mentioning this to Ethan, but thought better of it. Instead I tried to convince myself that it had simply been a matter of practice and asked him about the classes we had coming up.

"After lunch we'll go to physiology. We're in a really cool unit right now--the brain. I think we're doing a chemical balance chapter soon."

"_Physiology?_" That class wasn't offered until senior year at the regular high school. "I was enrolled in College Prep Chemistry. I don't know anything about--"

"Don't worry. Mrs. Valkyrie will get you caught up somehow. You'll be up-to-date and ready to join us within two classes. After that we've got Math Analysis. Easy class, trust me."

"I was only halfway through my first semester of Algebra II."

"Then you'll know enough. It's mostly first semester Geometry. Like I said, _really_ easy."

I hated Geometry. To be honest, I hated math in general. I wasn't very fond of science either. Knowing that I had my two least favorite subjects right after lunch made the time miserable. I barely heard the conversation of the table Ethan had taken me to. I mumbled a quick, "No," when they asked if I was going to eat; that was about the extent of my participation.

Ethan had been right about both Valkyrie and math. Valkyrie handed me a copy of the notes they had gotten through so far and Math Analysis was nothing but explaining _why_ something worked. Overall, both classes flew by and I knew I no longer had any reason to dread them. Hopefully.

When the bell rang, I headed out toward the front to meet Winan, but was stopped by Ethan.

"You wanna come with me and a couple of other people to the arcade this afternoon?"

The invitation surprised me. I'd barely known him for seven hours; in the six and a quarter years I'd been going to the Domino public schools, no one had ever even _tried_ to invite me to do something. That was what made me regret my answer. "I want to, but I don't think I can. I can't do anything without Seto's permission."

"Who's Se...oh. Kaiba. Right. Hasn't your chauffeur guy got a phone or something?"

I thought about it. "No, but Winan might. I'll be right back," I said before all but running out to find him leaning against the building, facing away from me. "Hey, Winan."

The guy totally freaked out. He jumped, gave a yelp of surprise, fumbled with his pager, the works. "M-Mokuba! Le-let's go."

"Wait. I want to ask Seto if I can go somewhere. You have your phone, don't you? Let me borrow it." Of course, I had the power in this case, so I got the phone and called my brother.

Before I'd even finished asking, Seto gave me a definite answer. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because I said not."

He rarely gave me a vague answer. Something had to be up. "Why do you say not?"

"There is no room for discussion on this subject. You will come home, in the car, with Winan." It went silent, and I knew my brother had hung up.

"Give me a second to tell them I can't," I said to Winan before hurrying back inside. "The answer's no. I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning, then."

With a slight hint of gloom in his voice, Ethan said, "Bye," and left.

I was silent as I walked out to the limousine, got in, and rode home.

* * *

Zie: Wow. _Looong_ chapter. I think the number of words doubled with this one. Guess I made up for the thousand words each the other two were missing.

Cerah: No kidding. Kind of a weird chapter too.

Zie: I'll try to start doing one chapter a week since school's back in. Updates will most likely be on Friday and Saturday nights after this. Please review!


	4. Welcome to the Rogue Society

**Chapter Four**

_**Welcome to the Rogue Society**_

_Today has got to have been the best day of school I've ever had. For the first time in my life, nobody compared me to my brother. I was even asked to go do something after school. The problem with that: Seto. He's been acting really strangely for the past few weeks. On edge. Almost to the point of being able to label him as paranoid. I _really_ need to figure out what's going on. Huh...not a bad thought._

I placed my journal in it's designated spot--under my mattress due to having to hide it quickly for a week. I left my room and started down the hall toward the elevator. About halfway there, I reconsidered my approach. If Seto hadn't been willing to tell me why I couldn't go somewhere earlier, chances were he wouldn't be willing to tell me now either. Instead of the elevator, I back-tracked and entered the back stairwell. It was going to be a _loong_ climb, but I knew that the effort would pay off. Because nobody ever really used them, very few people knew that there was a second door to Seto's office beside the stair exit, and unlike the rest of the room, it wasn't soundproof. It was the only way to eavesdrop, and there was hardly any chance of getting caught.

The stairwell was badly lit and pretty dirty--with the rest of the building to maintain, the janitors completely ignored anything nobody was generally going to see. I'd have to have something done about that. There was a thick coating of dust over _everything_. I sent up a choking cloud with every step and didn't dare touch the rail, which made my chances of keeping my footing in all the dust drop. By a _lot_. Every so often there would be a beetle or a spider that skittered across the step or landing in front of me, making my already dangerous ascent that much more treacherous. I started at a pretty steady pace of three floors a minute, but I gradually slowed as I grew more and more exhausted. At the sixty-fourth floor, thirty-one up from my room on the thirty-third, I came to a panting stop and checked the time--five fifteen. I had been climbing up the dusty old staircase for an hour and fifteen minutes and still had nine floors to go. I was considering just leaving right there and taking the elevator back down to my room. My mistake hit me then. I opened the door, flooding the landing with temporarily blinding light. When my eyes adjusted, I hurried into the elevator and pressed the button for the seventy-first floor. There I got off and slipped back into the stairs. That only left one floor to climb. Roughly twenty seconds later, my long, harrowing ascent ended. I had finally reached seventy-two.

As quietly as possible, I shut the door behind me and crept to the back door of Seto's office. Since nobody even suspected its existence, Seto must have covered the door a long time ago; that much I knew. What I _didn't_ know was what he had covered it with. The possibilities ranged from wallpaper to a full out wall. Whatever he had done to it, the door was more soundproof than I'd thought. Even with my ear pressed against it, all I could catch was a dull murmur. I needed to figure out what was in front of the door before I could figure out how to listen to my brother. With a sigh, I reluctantly took the stairs to the floor below and the elevator back down to my room.

---

My brilliant plan had been a complete bust. At least it had been for the first mission. _Mission._ That one word gave me an idea. I pulled a blank notebook that I was fairly sure I wouldn't be using in school anytime soon out of my backpack and labeled the third page _"Mission One"_. I knew it sounded corny, but I also knew that it could be vital to figuring out what was bothering Seto. I spent the rest of that night theorizing and analyzing.

---

The next morning, I looked out the window of the limousine to see Ethan waiting for me outside the front door. "Hey, Mokuba! Ready for classes?"

"Do I have a choice?" I muttered, mostly to myself. _Kotonashi may be way better than Domino, but that doesn't make it any less school._

Ethan blinked a couple times. "Um...wast that rhetorical?" He shook it off and grabbed my forearm. "Today is way easier than yesterday. You'll enjoy these classes. C'mon!" With that, I was dragged through the building into what I assumed to be the library.

"What class is this?" I asked, half expecting it to be some weird Kotonashi-style joke.

"Study hall. Let me give you a stationary tour. That," he said, pointing to one book-lined wall, "is the nonfiction section. Over there are fiction, those are reference, and the computers are scattered throughout. This is basically do-whatever-you-want-for-an-hour class. If you need any help, I'll be on this computer."

I nodded as he sat down. _Study hall, huh? Doesn't look like _anyone_ is studying._ I glanced at the occupied computers--each and every person in the room was on the exact same website, some MMORPG. Curious, I returned to Ethan and asked about it.

"You mean _Ihsanotok_? I'm gonna have to say it. _Best. Game. Ever._ There's a server reserved for Kotonashi students, so we all play it together. Nobody knows who is who, so we can be whoever we want to be. Here," Ethan said as he pushed the power button of the nearest computer, "use your student ID number and you should be able to skip the entire registration process. All you have to do is design your character. And don't make any attempts at playing as a girl; I tried, and it didn't work." That said, he turned back to his screen, being careful to cover it so no one could see where he was or what he looked like.

Knowing I didn't have anything better to do, I reluctantly sat in the chair and waited for the machine to boot up. Conveniently, there was a shortcut on the homescreen labeled _Ihsanotok MMORPG_. It took me directly to the Kotonashi server login, where I typed in my ID, bringing up the character creation page. Seventeen grueling minutes later, I had my character completed:

_Username: kmWhiteDragon  
__Character Type: Mage  
_|Click Here to Begin|

Just before I could press the begin button, Ethan's voice came from behind me. "Hey, Mokuba, turn off your monitor for a second."

Figuring he was about to give me some sort of random gaming advice, I complied and turned to face him.

"Okay, you see that headset? Yeah, that one. Put it on. You can change your voice before you start, too, and I'd recommend it. Yours is pretty distinctive. And those two gloves? Put those on too. It makes moving around and fighting way easier than using the mouse and keyboard. Bonus: it feels like you're actually _in_ the game. Well, that's all that you'll have to know. You'll like it, promise!"

"Uh, right. Thanks, Ethan."

"No problem." That said, he spun back to his computer.

My mouse hovered over the begin button, me half-expecting Ethan to stop me again. After a couple seconds, I clicked, and was drawn into the fantasy world. A voice came through the headset, and I instinctively turned my head to find it, turning my character around.

The voice laughed. "_You're a noob, aren't you? Congratulations on making your first turn._"

I decided that the character I now saw--a girl with the ears, tail, eyes, and whiskers of a white tiger--was just a tutor NPC, and treated her accordingly. "Are you going to teach me the basics of the game?"

She laughed again. "_Hell no. What do I look like to you, a tutor?_"

"Actually, yes," I replied.

"_Well, just to let you know, I'm not. By the way, soy la Tigresa Blanca. What's your name?_"

"You're _what_?"

Tigresa Blanca sighed in annoyance. "_I'm the Tigresa Blanca. What do you call yourself?_"

"Can you not see my username?"

"_But you need a nickname. Everyone has something they go by. What's your character type?_"

"What do you care?" I asked suspiciously. I knew that it was a Kotonashi-exclusive game server, but something about Tigresa Blanca made me uneasy.

"_Oh, for the love of...ah, mage. Well then--_" She cut off abruptly. I could faintly hear her cursing her computer. Or so I assumed. "_Bastard. Damn piece of crap. Work, damn it!_" A few seconds later, she was back on, loud and clear. "_You still on, noob?_"

"Uh...yeah. What was that?"

"_You heard? Guess my computer didn't lock up. By the way, congratulations, you've passed my test. You are now worthy of the status of Rogue._"

By that time I was thoroughly confused. There was the cursing, but then she was also informing me about the game, and now she was giving me a status. "Mind explaining?"

"_You're officially a cool Kotonashi student. Most would have run off at the sound of 'hell', and if not there, certainly they would have just now. So, congrats, and welcome to the Rogue Society. I now have your nickname: from this day forward, you shall be known as Rage._"

"Wha--?"

"_Rage. Rogue Mage. Your time is nearly up to play for this block. I'll introduce you to Prince King next time you're both on. Bye!_"

Just at that point, the computer shut itself down, resulting in a chorus of groans throughout the library. I took off my headset and walked over to Ethan, who was just as disappointed as everyone else. "So I'm guessing the computers are set to automatically shut down at the end of each class?"

He nodded. "Yeah. At least the game saves itself as you play. Did you meet anybody?"

I opened my mouth to tell him about Tigresa Blanca, but thought better of it. _Welcome to the Rogue Society._ If there was only one other member, then it was obviously not something she would want me to start talking about. Instead of her, I just said, "Aah, a couple NPCs, I think. Nothing really interesting."

"Ah. Well, once you learn how to walk around well, you'll be able to meet everybody. Let's get to Language."

---

Language, lunch, and Oral Comm went by pretty quickly with no incident. I ate and participated in the lunch table's conversation a bit, so they were all a little more comfortable around me, and me around them. It wasn't until about halfway through Psychology that the day got any more interesting. I was attempting to copy down Ethan's barely legible notes while the rest of the class watched a snake run--or slither, rather--an obstacle course when the door opened and a tall, tan guy with short copper hair walked in. "Sorry I'm late, Mr. O'Dell."

The teacher looked up from a book he was reading. "Oh, yes, of course," he muttered sarcastically. "Of course you are, Rey. Get the notes from someone to copy."

"Ethan?"

"Mokuba's got them at my desk. I'm sure he won't mind."

Rey sat beside me and began copying notes from a few classes before. Seeing my stare, he whispered, "I've been really sick. Now, you are Mokuba..."

"Kaiba," I replied. "Mokuba Kaiba."

"Awesome. Finally got tired of the public school, huh?"

"My brother was more tired of it than I was."

He stifled a short laugh. "Figures. I'm guessing Ethan's your student guide? Yeah? Cool. That means we'll have the same classes and everything too. Have you gotten onto _Ihsanotok_ yet?"

"Yeah. It was...interesting."

"Meet Tigresa?"

"Who?" I inquired, trying to play dumb. I didn't know anything about Rey, and I didn't want to accidentally get Tigresa into trouble. Even if I'd only talked to her for about thirty minutes, I felt that saying anything about her would somehow really screw things up for me in the near future.

When I answered no further, he turned back to copying the notes. Just as he finished, he made a bit of a show pretending to ask me what Ethan had written and whispered, "Welcome to the Rogue Society, kmWhiteDragon. Log on at five tonight for a meeting with me and Tigresa. I'm sure your brother has a spare game accessory set laying around." He nodded as if thanking me and joined the rest of the class.

"Hey, Prince Rey," Ethan said in a playful tone. "Finally decide to drag your royal ass to school?"

Mr. O'Dell's head flew up. "Ethan Crow, Ms. Yimori. _Now_."

The boy walked out with his head down.

_It wasn't _that_ bad_, I thought, shocked by Mr. O'Dell's reaction. I looked up to see what everyone else thought. Their faces left me with no doubt: they were all in various stages of fury toward Ethan. All but Rey. _His_ face was that of a bad actor trying not to laugh during a serious scene.

---

While waiting out front for Winan, I saw Ethan come out, Rey at his side, talking. "Man, chill out. It's not like they're going to expel you for one slip-up."

"But I'll be excommunicated by all my friends for at least a month!"

Rey's eyebrows rose. "And what am I?"

Ethan sighed. "I meant all my friends who have never been expelled."

I had been trying to lay low and observe from a distance, but a surprised, "Wha--?!" escaped my lips before I could think to hold it back.

Rey stiffened and turned his head to find the source. When he saw it was just me, he relaxed and guided Ethan over to where I stood. "And what is Mokuba? He's not going to excommunicate you either." He looked down with a pleading expression. "Are you?"

"Of course not," I replied. "I don't even get what the big deal is."

"Oh." Ethan's eyes grew. "I didn't tell you, did I? It's a big rule here: no curses. Period. We mostly try to adhere to it, but, as you've seen, there are those who fail." He looked at both of us. "You really don't have to associate with me until everyone else does. I wouldn't want my mistake to screw up your lives."

"Nah. It won't do me any harm," said Rey.

"But, Mokuba?"

"I'm used to having no friends. Two is a record for me."

"See, Ethan? You're not alone in your excommunication period. You've got two guys to stick by you."

"Thanks a lot. This would really have...been unpleasant." A red car pulled up. "Gotta go. Bye."

Rey looked down as the car drove off. "Thanks for not turning on him. You really _are_ a cool Kotonashi student." He apparently saw something behind me that made him nervous. "Remember, _Ihsanotok _a cinco horas. Later, man."

It turned out that it had been Winan who scared him off. I pondered everything that had happened as I rode home in the limousine. _I'll introduce you to Prince King...Hey, Prince Rey..._Ihsanotok_ a cinco horas...I'd better not forget that._

* * *

Zie: Oh man, I am _so_ sorry about the wait. I've been busy, then I've procrastinated, then I've just gotten a serious case of Writer's Block. But I'm finally back, and I really hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Cerah: No matter how much sense it may or may not have made.

Zie: For those of you who aren't online gamers, MMORPG means "[something]Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game". Something to that effect. NPC means "non-player character", and noob is just a rude abbreviation of "newbie". So there you have it.

Zie&Cerah: REVIEW!!!


	5. Yes, We Have a Conspiracy Theory

**Chapter Five**

_**Yes, We Have a Conspiracy Theory**_

_So today I began playing what seems to be every Kotonashi student's favorite pastime: _Ihsanotok_. I met some girl who calls herself the Tigresa Blanca--according to Rey, Tigresa for short. Rey, right. Rey came into my Psych class halfway through and started copying down Ethan's notes right beside me. Either he's stalking me or Tigresa told him about me, because when I said nothing about her when he mentioned the game, he told me the same thing she had told me earlier: "Welcome to the Rogue Society.". I'm supposed to get online to meet them at five tonight. Speaking of which...I'd better find the game accessories I need to play._

I shoved the journal under my mattress and hurried to the elevator. It was a quarter 'til, but I didn't want my luck to interfere and miss the meeting. The accessories weren't as hard to find as I had feared; apparently, we had an entire room to store them. I got on and was vaguely wondering how Rey and Tigresa intended on finding me when a small elf-boy tugged on my character's cape.

"_Hi! I'm Prince King, Prince of the Elves of the High Forest._"His voice was ridiculously high-pitched, so ridiculous I had to stifle a laugh.

"In other words, you're Rey?" I asked as a confirmation.

"_Pretty much_," he replied. "_But on here, I'm always Prince King. Tigresa should be here shortly. She said she has to kick her cousin off the computer first._"

"When?"

"_Um, earlier. He's always on when she wants to be here, so I expected it anyway. In the meantime, wanna learn how to play?_"

"Sure," I replied. "Not like I've got much better to do."

"_Awesome! Come on. There's a place with creatures so weak there's no way that even a noob like you could lose._" There was a sharp intake of breath. "_Sorry, man. I just called you a noob, didn't I? I slip sometimes. Sorry._"

I followed him along a wooded path. After a while--though it was probably only about thirty seconds--the silence started to make me uneasy. "So...is this the High Forest?" I asked him, trying to make myself less jumpy with small talk.

Prince King's head turned...all the way around. "_What? Oh, no. Ethan didn't explain the game very much did he. This is...what? Why are you staring at me like that?_" He looked down at himself. "_Oh. I tend to do that a lot. Tigresa usually starts laughing. Just a second..._" Slowly, his feet pattered around so his entire front was facing me. "_There. I think I glitched up my character really badly when I jumped into the digital sea. Tigresa dared me, and neither of us knew any better. Now, my head always moves faster than the rest of me, if the rest of me moves at all._" We returned to walking, which he abruptly stopped to face me again. "_I was about to explain the game to you. _Ihsanotok_, besides being the name of the game, is a school for gifted students. Do you know what I mean by 'gifted'?_"

"I'm going to say no," I replied. Something told me it didn't mean incredibly intelligent.

"_It pretty much means magical. For example, I'm an elf, and everyone knows elves have mystical abilities. Tigresa is a shape-shifter who particularly likes the form of a white tiger-girl. You are a mage. Anyway, this forest is just part of school grounds. My 'High Forest' probably exists, just not in this game. And now that that has been addressed, if you look to your left, you will see..._" He trailed off as he turned his head to face a clearing, which was full of seemingly dead goblin-like creatures. Apprehensively, he led me in, looking around for what had caused the phenomenon...or whatever you'd call it.

"_REEEER!!!_"

The sensation was really strange. I honestly had only expected the gloves to allow me to feel what came into contact with my hands. Apparently that was not the case, because I felt the foot that landed square on my shoulder at the same time it landed there. Needless to say, I was vocal about the startle.

My elf friend was even more so. "_Damn it, Tigresa, what the hell was that for? Stop...stop...It wasn't funny!_"

She let out a final snicker. "_It really was, King, and you know it._"

As they argued over the hilarity of her practical joke, I tried to recover from the shock of the impact. Not only had it been unexpected, but it still kinda hurt, too. Then I realized that was because Tigresa was poking me in the same general spot.

"_Rage? Are you frozen?_" She smiled when I shook my head. "_Good. I'm honestly sorry--to you--about that. I wasn't expecting King to be dumb enough to bring you in with him._" Tigresa punched me in the shoulder--good-naturedly, but still.

"Would you _please_ quit? I'm going to have a real bruise there."

"_You'll be fine. Honestly, what are you going to do, go crying to your mom?_"

That hurt worse than my shoulder. I was really hoping that she just didn't know who I was, because otherwise, that was a serious hit below the belt, and I was not going to tolerate it. "King? Did you tell Tigresa who I am?"

"_He did not, and he'd best not now. I'm fairly sure you're not Ethan, unless you've changed your character within the past forty-eight hours, which is unlikely, as no Kotonashi student besides you and King has ever figured out how to play while they're not in school, and Ethan is frickin' obsessed with this game. And he believes he's the best-looking student of _Ihsanotok_, so he would _never_ change his avatar. At least to my knowledge._"

"Well, I'm not Ethan. What's this about nobody else knowing how to play outside of school? The URL isn't even that hard to figure out."

"_Yeah, well, the school has them all convinced that there's a Kotonashi server for _Ihsanotok_, and they can't figure out what it's called, so they just use the shortcut at school. Didn't you realize that you didn't have to choose a server when you first got on?_"

I blinked several times. "Never even thought of it." But what was the big deal? I thought back to my first impression of the school. "A brainwashing facility..." I muttered to myself, completely forgetting about my companions.

"_Ha! He noticed earlier than you did, Rey! I mean, King. Before you even ask, Rage, yes, we have a conspiracy theory. That's why we originally developed the Rogue Society. We figured that if we could find more Kotonashi students who thought there was something up with the school, we could stage a riot, or at least investigate a little. Congratulations on being the first non-Founder member._"

"But just because I didn't freak out when you started cursing your computer...I just came fr--" I felt the hand on the screen covering my mouth. "Rey!" I tried to yell. "Let me go, damn it! I'm gonna suffocate!"

"_Don't tell her anything about yourself. Not yet._"

Tigresa's cat-face broke into a huge grin. "_He's an even cooler Kotonashi student than I thought. He isn't afraid to _voice_ curses either. Hooray for real men!_"

"_Why don't _I_ ever get that compliment?_" King half-whined, half-chuckled.

"_Because _your_ mouth is a frequent flier. And because I've known you longer. Quite a bit longer._" For no apparent reason, she kicked him in the shin.

"_Hey now! You're a lot bigger than me on here!_"

She laughed. "_That can be fixed._" Right in front of me, Tigresa's form shrank and morphed, until standing side-by-side were what appeared to be two Prince Kings. One tackled the other, and soon I had absolutely no idea which was which, at least until the battle was decided. One of them lifted a hand and threw the other one off itself. The other one transformed into a full-blown white tiger and pounced the real King. "_I win!_"

"_You cheated! You have awful dueling manners, Tigresa._"

"_Do I look like I care?_" She asked as she returned to her tiger-girl form. "_I like victory, no matter how I must obtain it._"

I raised my eyebrows at the comment. Apparently Tigresa was one hard-a you didn't wanna mess with.

"_You got that right!_"

"Wha--?" I realized she was talking to King and relaxed. That would have been slightly creepy.

"_What would have been slightly creepy?_" This time, the comment was definitely directed toward me. I guess she saw the look of astonishment on my face. "_Your lips were moving and words were coming out. Did you not realize you were talking?_"

"To be quite honest," I replied, "no."

"_At least you're honest,_" she said with a laugh and _another_ punch to my shoulder.

That shoulder was starting to regret ever agreeing to this meeting. Speaking of which... "Exactly _why_ are we in this meeting in the first place?" I asked.

"_Just a getting-to-know-you thing._" Tigresa started singing "Getting to Know You" from _The King and I_ for no apparent reason. She cut off at my stare. "_Yes, I randomly burst into song. Deal with it._" Tigresa continued to hum as we stood there, now staring awkwardly at each other.

A tap on my shoulder made me jump, sending my character hurtling into a nearby tree. It was not a pleasant sensation for my _real_ body.

"M-Mokuba." The intruder had been Winan. I could hardly make out what he was saying over Tigresa's and King's cries of concern. "I-it's time for dinner. Your brother would like for you to eat in the dining room with him tonight."

Not wanting to arouse any suspicion, I simply turned off my laptop and went with him. I could explain my disappearance to Rey tomorrow.

As Winan led me to the dining room, I wondered why Seto would specifically request that I eat with him. I couldn't even remember the last time we _had_ eaten together. Obviously, there was something either very good or very bad that I needed to know about. By the time I walked into the dining room, I was tensed, bracing myself for some horrible news. So I was really surprised with what came out of Seto's mouth. Besides, "Winan, leave."

"How was school today?"

The question was so far from what I had been expecting that I couldn't even muster the most stereotypical of "fine, fine"'s.

He raised an eyebrow at my silence. "Well?"

I stuttered through several sounds until the right one came out. "It was good."

"Would you care to elaborate upon that?"

It was really weird that _he_, Seto Kaiba, the biggest enemy of meaningless attempts at conversation, would be making small talk with _me_, his brother, who I'm sure he didn't want to grow up thinking that small talk is the only kind of talk. It was almost as if he was just trying to make keeping me under his watchful eye not seem suspicious. If _that_ was his goal, then he was failing miserably.

Seto managed to keep me in the dining room until seven-thirty before I finally felt like I was going to go nuts and dashed out. Upstairs in my room, I lay on my bed, pondering my brother's uncharacteristic behavior until I fell asleep.

---

"What was that last night, Mokuba?"

Because Rey had been gone for several days and I was new, we were working on basic badminton technique while the rest of the class was practicing for the round-robin doubles tournament we'd be having in a few classes.

"My...brother called me down to dinner. I didn't want to attract any attention from him, so I just got off. Sorry about it." I didn't want to mention that it had been my bodyguard who had startled me so badly; it felt weird saying I had one, and I didn't want to explain _why_ Seto insisted on my having one.

Rey nodded. "No big deal. You just kinda freaked me and Tigresa out with the whole flying-into-a-tree thing. How are you getting along with backhand? I can't seem to get it right."

The bell soon released us to lunch, where we chose a secluded table with Ethan, who had been silent all day. The whole excommunication thing was really depressing him, and I could just imagine. If I were as sociable as he was, I'm sure I would have felt the same way.

"You realize that you're allowed to talk to us, right?" Rey asked him, trying to get him to cheer up.

It worked to an extent: a half-grin spread across his lips. "Thanks, guys. But seriously, of all the times to have opened my mouth. The masquerade is Friday, and no one but you guys will associate with me. This dance is going to su...be really miserable."

"You don't need anyone else to have fun, Ethan, and you know it." Rey shoved him lightly, trying to get a response. When none came, he sighed.

"Masquerade?" Nobody had mentioned this to me before.

"Yeah. Everyone will be dressed up. It's like an early Halloween, minus the candy. You're going to come, right?"

I looked down. "That's up to Seto."

Rey grinned. "Need any ideas on how to persuade him to let you?"

"I think I'll be fine on my own, thanks."

---

"Of course you can," my brother replied. "As long as there are chaperons."

"It's a school-sponsored event. Of course there will be chaperons."

"Then have fun."

* * *

Zie: Did anybody catch my _Code Lyoko_ reference?

Cerah: I highly doubt that anyone cares.

Zie: Oh, screw you. Ahem! I know that was short, but the next chapter will be longer and _really_ interesting; I'm _soo_ excited about it! I'd put it out within a few hours, but it's one in the morning and I'm definitely not going to work any more. So read!

Cerah: AND REVIEW!!!


	6. Amazed

**Chapter Six**

_**Amazed**_

_Surprisingly enough, in a few minutes I'll be going to Kotonashi for the first school dance of the year. It ought to prove interesting, especially since it's my first dance _ever_. I feel like such a girl for writing this, but it really is a bit of a big deal. It's the first time Seto has ever let me go and _do_ something outside of the school day without Winan following at my heels. It's time to go._

I took one last look at myself in my mirror before leaving. For some reason, I'd chosen to dress a lot like Rage, but no one would catch the similarities but me. I felt slightly ridiculous going to school dressed up, and hoped that Rey hadn't just decided to pull a joke on me. Of course, Ethan didn't seem like the type to let that sort of joke slide, but I couldn't know for sure.

"Mokuba, hurry up!" Winan called from somewhere down the hall.

"Coming!" I grabbed some money from my dresser and hurried out to the limousine. _I_ was the fidgety one tonight--I was nervous and honestly had no idea why. After all, all this thing was was a gathering of Japanese teenagers who went to the same school jumping up and down to techno music, making themselves look like idiots. It wasn't like I was heading for the electric chair. There was a small crowd standing in front when I got there, apparently waiting for the doors to open. I saw two heads sticking up above the sea of costumed students toward the front and headed over to them.

Somehow, Rey noticed me despite my height. "Hey, you made it!"

"I told you that my brother said yes yesterday."

"You never know. I figured he may have decided to pull a psych on you. Yeah, yeah, I know, I don't even know him," he said in response to my glare.

I looked around and realized that the crowd was shrinking rapidly. "I think it's time to go in."

Ms. Yimori was sitting at a desk right at the front of the lobby. "Last names?"

Rey answered for me and Ethan as well as himself. "Valentino, Crow, and Kaiba."

We handed her our money and went into the commons. It didn't look like the commons; it had really been dressed up.

"This kind of reminds me of Porygon," Rey called over the pounding--I so called it--techno, referring to the strobes, which were the only source of light in the entire building. I could barely make out the grin on his face. "That was my favorite episode. C'mon!" Before I could object, he had pulled me into the insane throng. "Dance, man!"

"That is _not_ dancing," I replied before weaving my way out, getting bumped into numerous times before finally reaching the edge. One of the many things Seto had taught me was that with the crowd was not always--in fact, almost never--the way to go. Even if it made me look like a prude, I was _not_ going to join in. As I stood there, immobile, I caught someone enter out of the corner of my eye. I did a double-take, not sure if I could trust what I was seeing in the flashing lights.

My eyes had not deceived me: the girl who had just walked in was stunning. Her sleek white hair was pulled up into an untidy bun at the top of her head, a few strands falling over the black-and-white-striped cat mask she was wearing. Her form-fitting, knee-length dress matched the mask perfectly. Even her Vans matched it. Her gaze turned to me, the only person not jumping along with everyone else, and she started my way.

I could hear my heart over the music, it was beating so fast. _What's the big deal?_ I asked myself. _She's a human being. You see them all the time._

Even as I tried to convince myself of this, it accelerated when she stopped right in front of me and held out her hand, which I shook; I was surprised to see that she was a couple inches _shorter_ than me. She was saying something, but over the music, all I caught was, "So...la...ti...bla."

"What?" I yelled.

"Sorry," she yelled back. "Never mind, anyway. For tonight, I'm Elle. Who are you, for tonight?"

I was slightly confused, until my mind cleared up enough for me to recall the point of a masquerade. I thought quickly. _Usually you take off your mask at the end of these, so I shouldn't use my _Ihsanotok_ nickname. But what..._ "I'm Kai, for tonight."

"It's good to make your acquaintance, Kai. I take it you also disapprove of that?" she asked, jerking her head toward the mass. "They look like a bunch of sugar-high rabbits. The music is awful too."

"We're the only ones who think so," I replied.

"I can fix that. Where's the DJ? I'm going to make a few song requests!"

"I don't think there is one. There's a jukebox over there, though," I said, pointing to the far corner of the room.

Though I couldn't hear it, I could tell by her lips that Elle was muttering something along the lines of, "Of course. Just to torture me." She spoke back up. "C'mon, Kai! Let's pick out some new songs!" Together, we managed to get past the--much taller--people to the source of all the crappy techno pop. Here, away from the blaring speakers, it was much easier to make out what she was saying. "God damn," she mumbled. "It _has_ to be like any other jukebox. Damn school board is full of moochers. If the kids want _real_ music, they've gotta pay for it." Hearing the curses in her dulcet, tonal voice almost made me want to laugh. It seemed really alien, but obviously her lips were accustomed to the words.

I dug around in my pocket, and pulled out the rest of the money I had brought. "Here. This should be plenty."

Elle stared down at my open hand. "You sure you want _me_ to pick the songs with your money? You may find that my taste in music is kinda...foreign."

I shrugged. "I don't really have any preferences, except for not techno. Go ahead, take it." I forced her to take the money.

She blinked, then smiled. "Thanks, Kai! Really! I promise to pay you back, though."

"You really don't need to. Money isn't a big deal for me."

"No, I'm going to pay you back," she said, somewhat absently as she touched the screen and started looking through the songs. I was starting to realize what she meant by 'foreign'. All the songs she was choosing were in English. Of course, I was pretty fluent thanks to Seto, but I didn't know what everyone else was going to say about it. Something told me that they didn't have any reason to know English. Soon, the screen was beyond full of what looked like American songs. "There. That should make for a more enjoyable playlist."

"We'd probably better get away from here before someone realizes that is was _us_ who changed the music. There's going to be a riot." I took her hand, sending a jolt of electricity down my spine, and tugged, trying to get her to make an escape.

"You don't know that," she said. "They might actually like it." Despite the remarks, she relented and allowed me to pull her back through the crowd to our original spot, and only just in time. The techno came to a sudden halt, yielding for bass drums and electric guitars. "_This_ is real music. I'll heed your warning until I see everyone else's reaction."

To my surprise, there were no groans. In fact, some people even started screaming with excitement. I recognized this song: it was the "Cha-Cha Slide" remix. I'd heard it once when I accidentally tuned into some American kid's radio station.

"You understand English, don't you?"

I nodded dubiously.

"Then come help me lead these people. They won't understand a word he's saying. C'mon!" Elle grabbed my wrist and pulled me along with her. "Hey, everyone!" she called out, easily grabbing everyone's attention. "Just do what I do! If anyone else knows this, then come help!"

Amazingly, five people, including Rey and Ethan, came up with her. Once everyone started recognizing the sounds of the guy's voice, they stopped staring to the front and added their own flair to the 'cha-cha' part. It didn't turn out to be excruciating at all. I learned that dancing isn't _all_ bad.

I didn't recognize the next song, but apparently Elle knew it by heart:

_"Just dance  
__Gonna be okay  
__Da da doo doot'n  
__Just dance  
__Spin that record, babe  
__Da da doo doot'n  
__Just dance  
__Gonna be okay  
__Da da da dance  
__Just da da just dance..."_

At the end of the first chorus, she motioned for me to join everyone, but I refused, making the excuse of "not knowing how". "This kind of music," she said yanking me in, "you've just gotta feel." I could see that Elle felt it. I was transfixed by how graceful she made the erratic motions seem. At the next break, she stretched and walked over to me. "Now come _on_ Kai. I'm sure you could dance if you _tried_." The new beat came on and she grinned. "This one's good. There's one pretty much mandatory move: every time he says, 'low', you've gotta do this." It was perfect timing, and she followed her own instructions. "Now c'mon!" She moved along with the beat, and I couldn't help but do the same, though the rhythm I felt wasn't necessarily that of the song.

Several times guys would "casually" walk up to Elle and try to strike a conversation, but every time, she would dance away from them after an exceptionally short exchange. The only two guys who _didn't_ seem to be interested in her were Ethan and Rey. She talked to Rey a few times--it seemed that they knew each other quite well--but she would always return to me. _Me_.

I was starting to feel the butterflies-in-your-stomach sensation; every time Elle came back, she was slightly closer than she had been the time before. Each time, the conversation grew a little more invasive, but we never said quite enough to reveal our identities.

About ten songs after she had first persuaded me to dance, Elle was only about a foot away from me, and I realized that she must have had a pretty good idea of the order of the songs. The beat slowed, and she grinned. " 'Amazed'. It's by Lonestar." She raised her eyebrows expectantly. She wanted me to ask her to dance.

I nearly choked as I tried to get out the words. "I...I...I...W-would y-y-you like t-to d-d-da-dance?"

Elle's grin grew. "I would." She closed the gap between us and loosely crossed her wrists behind my neck.

Unsure, I placed my hands on her waist and allowed her to lead.

She hummed along with the chorus:

_"I don't know how you do what you do  
__I'm so in love with you  
__It just keeps gettin' better  
__I wanna spend the rest of my life  
__With you by my side  
__Forever and ever  
__Every little thing that you do  
__Baby, I'm amazed by you..."_

"You know, Kai, I'm not going to lie: you are the only guy in here who seems decent."

_Did she just...?_ I was at a loss for a reply. Her face was so close to mine that our noses nearly touched. Our gazes locked, and we stood there with bated breath.

"I would not suggest that, unless you two would like to take your masks off early and head home," whispered a voice into our ears. We turned to see it was Rey. "If you thought they didn't like cursing, then you should see their policy on PDA. You two would be kicked out of here faster than nuns in Playboy Mansion."

"You ruined the moment, basta...a...person for whom there are no school-appropriate words to describe!" Elle yelled at him. Thankfully, the beat had picked back up and there was a new song, so she couldn't be heard. She jumped at him, but I caught her around the waist before she was able to pounce. She growled menacingly. "Lemme at him!"

"He's right," I said. "There's still an hour left. Try to stay out of trouble."

Elle twisted around in my arms until she was facing me again. "Fine. But he is _so_ getting it later."

I figured that this was the time to clear up any misconceptions I may have had. "So, you two know each other?"

Rey nodded. "Yeah. _Elle_'s my closest friend, and I'm hers."

"It's not like we're going out," she agreed. "Honestly."

"I can believe it," I answered, thinking of what had almost happened between them just a few moments ago. The next song began. "You didn't think about the order these would play in when you picked out the next few songs, did you?" It was slow.

"On the contrary, I knew _exactly_ in what order they would play." Elle rested her head on my shoulder and smiled up at me. "Are you complaining?" I had no idea what expression was on my face, but she apparently found it funny, or at least what she could see of it. Almost as if she read my mind, Elle quickly said, "Nonononononono! You're nervous. It's cute. It's almost like you've never..." Her voice trailed off and a spark of understanding lit her deep--but very light--chocolate-brown eyes. She tilted her head. "To be honest, Kai, that surprises me."

"This is the first dance my brother's ever let me go to. _And_ it's the only one I've really had the remotest desire to attend. Elle must have been able to hear my heartbeat; if I could hear it pounding in _my_ ears, she could certainly hear with her head on my shoulder. It was soon apparent that she had intended on a _lot_ of slow dancing: somehow she had managed to make every third song a slow one. By the end of the final song, I felt like I could drop dead from a heart attack at any second.

"It's midnight!" Ms. Yimori's voice came over a loudspeaker. "It's time to remove your masks! Turn to the person closest to you. Three...two..."

About one hundred masks were taken off simultaneously, followed by gasps and squeals of delight. I was silent. Elle's hair fell down to her waist. She swept it out of her eyes, and I was spellbound by the face the tiger mask had obscured for the past three hours. Though pale, her skin had a glow to it that seemed to brighten everything around her. And her hair...

I ran my hand through it, marveling at how silky it was. I liked how easily it slipped through my fingers. "Your hair is so soft..."

Elle smiled shyly and looked down. It was the first time I'd seen any vulnerability to her. A blush rose to her face as I pulled my fingers through again. The blush gave her already radiant skin even more color.

I pressed the back of my hand to her burning cheek, watching her intently for a reaction. Curious as to what her pretty, clear skin felt like, I turned my hand over and brushed her cheek with my fingertips. My hand lingered there, not wishing to part with her smooth skin.

"Tha-that's not my hair," she whispered in a failed attempt to calm her nerves with a joke.

"Your face is soft too," I murmured. I felt her skin flare up even more.

It was happening again. Our faces drew closer, our noses were touching. We closed our eyes, parted our lips...

"So..." Our eyes snapped open and we both turned--Elle with a glare--to see Rey grinning at us. "Have you two introduced yourselves to each other yet?"

"Rey, I _know_ you're trying to keep us out of trouble," Elle said to him with more than a hint of sarcasm, "but seriously, what the fu...he...what is your deal?" Her struggle for words apparently amused Rey, and Elle only barely caught herself before she backhanded the grin off his face. She took a careful, steadying breath before looking back at me. "I guess he's right, though. My name's Noelle. You are?"

"Mokuba," I replied, then added at her questioning glance, "Kaiba. Mokuba Kaiba."

Noelle held out her hand and we shook as we had earlier. "It's good to meet you, Mokuba."

"Why have I not noticed you during school?"

"Well, for one, I don't got to Kotonashi."

That was, to say the least, surprising. "Wha--? Then how'd you get in?"

"Rey registered me as a visitor so I could come."

"Speaking of such," he interjected, "do you need me to walk you home?"

"Dunno. Gimme a sec." To my mortification, she pulled a cell phone from her breast and sent a text message from it. "Who knows how long it'll take to get a reply," she muttered to herself. "Anyway," she said suddenly, "your last name is Kaiba. I feel like I should know it. Why?"

Shocked, I told her, "My brother is CEO of Kaiba Corp., the biggest gaming company in the world."

"Interesting, interesting..." Noelle looked up for a moment. "Oh! You're the kid who just transferred out of Domino High School! I guess you don't recognize me from there, either, do you? I've only been in Japan for a few months, and I started school there at the beginning of this semester. Plus, I only just stopped dyeing my hair a month ago."

I was starting to realize she _was_ a bit familiar, just not from school. "You mean your hair is naturally _white_?"

"I know. Bizarre, right?" She flipped open her lit phone and turned to Rey. "Looks like my cousin's already here. Well, bye guys." Directly to me, she said, "I hope we'll see each other soon."

As she walked off, I made the connection. "Wait! What's your last name?"

Noelle paused, looked over her shoulder, and replied, "Bakura!" before heading out.

I looked at the black and white striped mask in my hands, finally comprehending her first words. _Soy la Tigresa Blanca._

* * *

Zie: Wow, it's really hard trying to describe a girl's appearance from a boy's point of view. Aside from that, wasn't Mokuba kawaii? I really like this chapter. Did you? If you review only one chapter one through six, review this one. It's the first romance scene I've ever really written, and I wanna know what you thought of it very badly!

Cerah: And just out of curiosity, did anyone make the connections of Noelle's identity--both as a Bakura and as Tigresa--_before_ Mokuba?

Zie&Cerah: PLEASE REVIEW!!!


	7. YOU LET RYOU ON NOW!

**Chapter Seven**

_**YOU LET RYOU ON **_**NOW**_**!**_

_I met someone at the dance. I feel like a girl for writing about it, but it really is a fairly monumental landmark. Her name is Noelle Bakura--from what Rey told me, her cousin Ryou is the schizophrenic guy with the Ring thing--and she's he only girl I've ever thought of..._romantically_. We had two moments, but both were interrupted by Rey to keep us out of trouble. Noelle nearly killed him for it the first time. I should probably mention for later reference--like I'll ever forget anything that's happened tonight--that they're best friends, so of course they're going to be going from one extreme to the other._

As I was about to put my journal under my mattress, I caught sight of Noelle's mask hanging on my mirror and flipped it back open.

_One last thing: Noelle is Tigresa._

Finally finished, I slipped it into its place and laid down. It was two in the morning, but my mind was racing and I knew there was no way I would be sleeping tonight. I played the dance over and over in my head, mostly watching our two 'moments', imagining how they could have gone hadn't Rey stepped in...

Sometime during this reverie, I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up to the sun streaming through the window I'd forgotten to draw the curtain over. Funny: I had no recollection of ever pulling the curtain back in the first place. I preferred to leave them shut so that sunlight _didn't_ wake me up. Figuring I had done it in my half-sleep state the night before, I brushed it aside, got up, and shut the curtain. Vaguely remembering there was something I hadn't wanted to forget, I glanced over at my clock. "Eight. Why'd I get up at _eight_?" I mumbled. Then the thing I wanted to remember came back to me.

I opened my laptop and put on the gloves and headset quickly and logged in to _Ihsanotok_. This early in the morning, the game seemed so real that I completely forgot it _wasn't_.

\/

I walked along the forest trail to the training grove that Prince King had shown me. There was no reason for me to waste the time I spent waiting for them, and I figured the best way to use it was to learn how to fight. I soon reached the clearing. Unlike before, this time the goblins were alive.

One grabbed me from behind, hanging on by my neck. Others started jumping at me; some clung to my legs, others pulling on my arms and cloak. They weren't light, either, and dragged me to the ground within a matter of seconds. They beat me with their tiny fists, sending jolts of nearly unbearable pain throughout my body.

In a spastic attempt to free myself, I began flailing madly, sending several flying through the air, only to be barraged by a second attack. When I finally managed to get back to my feet, another goblin--no, by the look of its distinctive hands, the same one as before--grabbed my neck, this time able to pull me down all on its own.

As this one dragged me back, the other goblins moved away, essentially in some sort of retreat. It cried out something to those who weren't moving in a high, clear voice. The answering grunts from the fleeing goblins made me conclude that my captor was female; the others' reaction to her made me conclude she was their leader. She dropped my shoulders and did a front flip, landing with both feet on my chest, sending the air whooshing from my lungs. A wicked grin spread across her strangely pretty face, revealing sharp white teeth, such as I had not observed in the other goblins. There was an aura of power around her, like she was used to getting what she wanted, no matter how--and she expected to get it now. She knelt, her face right in mine.

I grabbed the hand that was reaching for my throat and flung her over my head into the tree behind us; she let out a shriek of agony. Now that _I_ was in control, I approached her slowly, feeling the same evil smile creep across my lips. "You'll be my first kill. Are you ready?" I concentrated and a ball of energy formed in my palm. Excited with my success, I pointed my hand at her.

She raised an arm to shield her face and screamed, her body expanding and her limbs slimming. "Don't!"

/\

I dropped my hand, shocked. "Noelle?" I knelt beside her, my high wearing down fast. "Noelle, are you all right?" Her terrified expression made my stomach sink. "Noelle, I'm sorry."

Slowly, her arm lowered. "_It's fine, Mokuba._" She'd used my real name. "_And kind of my fault. I wanted to surprise you; I didn't think about what it would look like to you. I should have known better._" She grinned. "_It reminds me of why I've got an account on this game. The first time I pulled a joke on Rey, Tigresa went to the healer and I had a couple of bruises. It was way worth it though. His face was priceless, and I managed to get a screenshot of it._" Unexpectedly, Tigresa leaned against me. "_Of course, that really wasn't scary, just painful. You, though. Man, you were emanating bloodlust. I've never been more terrified...no, I take that back. There was one other time..._" Her eyes glazed over, and a flicker of horror crossed them before she was back. "_Anyway,_" she said hurriedly, "_you were awesome. I guess I shouldn't piss you off on here." _She gave a short laugh._ "Teach me the art of intimidation, O wise one._"

Another voice answered from behind us. "_Like you really need it, my beloved--_" The voice cut off. It was Prince King. Obviously.

"_Watch your language!_" Tigresa sat up. "_You ruined the moment, bastard. Asshole. What the fuck? What the hell?_" Despite the angry words, she had a grin on her face. One glance at me and it faded. "_I've been wanting to get those out at an appropriate time. Sorry._"

"_Get used to it,_" King whispered into my ear. "If_ you intend on getting close to her._"

I shoved him away, much to Tigresa's amusement.

"_What'd you tell him, Rey?_" she asked with mock irritation.

"_Just warning him about being with you,_" he replied in his squeaky voice.

A blush rose to my face. I still wasn't comfortable with the idea of being..._together_.

_She_, on the other hand, was either perfectly fine with the idea or a great actress. Tigresa's grin was almost to the point of breaking her face in two. "_What's wrong with that, Mokuba?_" she asked. Despite her expression, the question was obviously sincere.

_Crap._ She'd taken it the wrong way. "I-I...I didn't…_"_

There was a slight flush to her cheeks. "_Never mind._" Tigresa looked down, then back to me. "_Anyway, you obviously came to the clearing for a reason, and I'm guess that was to fight. Let me go find those goblins, and—_"

"No, no." Those things kinda freaked me out now. "I think I've got the idea. Is there anything else to this game?"

"_Mostly just interacting with other characters," Rey replied. "So, not really." Apparently the look Tigresa gave him jogged his memory. "Well, I guess there are the Hunters, but they're really rare, so we never worry. Don't trouble yourself about them._"

"_Noelle, I need on there to work on my essay. No, I'm on _Ihsanotok_ with some friends; go to the library. But I've already typed half of it on there. Didn't you save it to a floppy? No. Why not? Because we didn't have any left. Go to the store and buy some. It's raining outside. Sucks for you. Noelle, _please_. No! The essay is due tomorrow! You should have thought about that. I did. Then why are you so pressed for time? I didn't allot enough time to Calculus. Too bad._" I was getting confused: even though it was Tigresa's mouth and voice, it was obvious the argumen was between two people. "_This is my midterm Psychology project. Waaah. Noelle… Maybe you should have picked an easier major. NOELLE, YOU LET RYOU ON _NOW_!_" The last sentence was definitely _not_ Noelle or her cousin, who I had finally identified as her opponent.

King cringed. "_Mr. Bakura. Nice guy, but he's not the kind you fuck around with. Noe, you'd better get off._"

"_Don't call me 'Noe', Rey. Gimme a sec, Ryou._"

"_All right_," he answered.

Her head, which had been looking over her shoulder, turned to me and king. "_How about we go hand out today?_"

_Damn._ "I doubt Seto will let me."

"_You're not even going to ask?_"

"_C'mon, Mokuba,_" Rey added. "_He let you go to the dance, didn't he?_"

I groaned. "That's because there were chaperons."

"_What about that guy who picks you up everyday? That's what he's for, right? Bodyguard?_"

My jaw dropped. "How…? When did I say that?"

"_Did you think I'm an idiot? Mokuba, I flew him from Chile for high school._"

"Wha—?"

"_Have you never noticed how different I look from everyone else? That I've been speaking English with an accent on _Ihsanotok_?_"

"To be honest, no." Not until that moment. Now that I _did_, I realized that the tan I'd first seen was more brown than gold. And the English. Seto had said that by the time I finished learning it, I wouldn't be able to distinguish between it and Japanese. I guess he was right. "Isn't Chile a third world country?"

"_Largely. My parents manage to make a pretty good living, though. I got a computer and some language software. I learned English and Japanese, and when I finished grade school_—_at least as much as was offered_—_my parents hired me a tutor. My father contacted an associate, and now I live with her and her husband here, in Japan. I took ninth grade at the public school, and now I'm a freshman at Kotonashi. Just because I'm juvenile doesn't mean I'm stupid. I've got the second highest IQ in the school, and I think third in Domino._"

"_Don't flatter yourself, Rey. You're fifth. I think it's Seto Kaiba first, Ryou is…are you second or third?_"

"_Third, I think,_" he replied.

"_Then it's that one girl, Stanley…oh, what's her first name?_"

"Becca?" _Wow_, I thought.

"_Yeah, yeah, Becca Stanley, in fourth. _Then_ you, Rey._" She shook her head. "_So we have established that Mokuba had a body guard and that Rey isn't as much of a dumbass as he seems. Now go ask your brother if you can go to the arcade._"

:::

"How many times do I have to say no before you get the point?"

"But I'd have Winan with me!" I argued.

"It's his day off." Of all the freaking employees he gave vacations, it just _had_ to be Winan.

A growl escaped my throat before I could stop it. "Isn't there _anyone_ you trust to watch me?"

"Myself."

"_Besides_ yourself?"

"No."

_In that case…_ "Then why don't _you_ come with me?"

"I'm busy."

I turned away. "Ryou should have walked to the store in the rain," I muttered angrily. "I guess I'll have to wait and talk to Noelle on Monday."

"Ryou? Ryou Bakura? And who is Noelle?"

Does being brilliant come with a heightened sense of hearing? "Yes, Ryou Bakura," I replied. "Noelle is a friend. She's his cousin."

I heard his chair creak back at "she's". "Is he going with them?" Or maybe it had just been a delayed reaction to "yes".

"No. He has to work on a college research paper." I looked back over my shoulder.

He was staring straight at me. "Akron will go with you." _Was_ it at "she's"? Hell if I knew anymore. "The same rules apply: run off and you will be stuck here."

:::

"What do you wanna play?" I asked as we entered the arcade, leaving Akron to stand against the wall beside the exit, right where Seto had ordered him to stay.

"How about _Ditch the Chauffeur_?" suggested Noelle. She and Rey exchanged a mischievous glance.

I groaned. "How many times do I have to explain this to you? If I try to make any epic escape, I'll be grounded. _Big _time."

Noelle rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You only hesitate because you _know_ you'll get caught."

"Reverse psychology doesn't work on me, Noelle."

She shrugged. "It was worth a try. I think they have a new game. C'mon!"

To my surprise, Rey looked just as confused as I was. Nevertheless, we followed her to the back of the room, behind the DDR set. Sure enough, there _was_ a new game: _Battle Royale_. "Dude," Rey and I simultaneously whispered in awe.

"That book is my Bible!" Rey cried as he ran up and hugged the machine, then Noelle. "You. Are my hero."

"You're welcome," she replied with a malevolent grin. "There's four seats and three of us. You _do_ want to play, don't you Mokuba" At my eager nod, six game tokens emerged from her jacket. "Two for you, two for me, two for Rey. That gets us fifteen minutes of play time, _and_ the ability to save the game so we can come back anytime we want and pick up where we left off."

Just as we were slipping the gloves on and readying to lower our visors, someone dashed around the corner shouting, "Wait!" We all turned to see Becca pull tow tokens out of her pocket. "Mind if I play?"

* * *

I've had this chapter done for _forever_, but I've been too busy/lazy to type it up. I know it's been over a year, but I hope that it's satisfactory. I'll try to keep up on this and Evil Angel from now on!


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